A panel of health care professionals and architects discussed the future of neonatal intensive care unit design and how it plays a role in premature babies’ health in a panel discussion Tuesday night.

The discussion was held in the National Weather Center on OU’s south campus, and panel members consisted of health care and architecture specialists that advised students on the needs of neonatal intensive care units.

Carol Kenner, panelist and dean of the College of Nursing, said parents should be a critical focus when considering design features. She said many neonatal intensive care units now focus more on developmental care, which puts families and patients first and considers the baby’s environmental impact.

“Can you imagine if you’re the parent and you’re scared and you see all that equipment?” she said. “It’s no wonder your heart races. The parent has to be considered in whatever we create.”

Kenner said parents are not visitors, so designers should create a family environment space.

Robert White, panelist and pediatric specialist at the University of Notre Dame, also said families are important to consider, because a premature baby can strain a relationship.

“We are in the middle of break ups of families,” he said. “It all happens right in front of our face in the [neonatal intensive care unit].”

White said designers must also consider things like lighting because it can impact the babies’ sleep patterns while in the intensive care unit and after going home. He said premature babies’ senses go through a crucial period of development in the first few months after birth.

Tuesday’s discussion was the last in a series of lectures in the College of Architecture’s Dream Course, “Integrated Practice: Specializing in Health Care.” The class is currently focusing on the effects of building design on neonatology and medicine to keep premature babies alive, said David Boeck, associate professor of architecture.

Boeck said the idea of the Dream Course is to encourage collaboration among majors within the architecture college, including architecture, interior design and construction science. He said the lecture was an important event for the medical field.

“I think the students will learn a lot from real life experiences of these professionals,” he said.

Interior design senior Lydia Frost said she has learned a lot in the class so far, and the panel’s discussions have been beneficial because they coincide with the class’ project designing a neonatal intensive care unit in Africa.